Soredemo ningyō : Still Doll
by The Ever-Changing Alias
Summary: Marked Drama for now, thinking about pairings. Arisu Sakebi is unable to speak after learning that her parents were killed by a Level E. Now attending Cross Academy, can she find  her voice with the help of her old friend, Zero?
1. P r o l o g u e

**Prologue**

_**Eight years back from present time. **_

A seven year old girl sits in her room, brushing her hair. Running the brush through her shoulder length blonde hair, the young girl closes her eyes and winces as it tugs on a knot. Pausing in her brushing, she opens her eyes and looks into the mirror at her reflection. A young blonde haired girl with albino skin stares back at her. The girl's onyx eyes are an endless black, but they still hold warmth and life. She frowns and begins to brush her hair once more, whispering quietly to herself.

"Father will return home soon…." The young girl is certain of it as she turns around to check the clock on the wall across from her small, wooden vanity table. She sighs and stands up, running her small hands down her nightgown, straightening the material. The blonde child walks over to her bed and lays down, hoping to fall asleep before her father and her problems come back.

* * *

><p>The young girl is woken by a gentle shaking. <em>It's not father, <em>the girl thinks to herself while keeping her eyes closed. _He would never be this gentle with anyone. It must be mother. _She opens her eyes, and the sight of her mother brings a sleepy smile to her face. But not for long.

"Arisu," The said girl's mother begins, and the sound of fear in the women's voice causes her blonde child to sit up. "Your father has not returned home yet. I fear something has happened to him."

"What's the problem with that?" The child- Arisu- asks while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

The woman sighs softly, but Arisu still heard it. "You are too young to understand, my child." Arisu's mother pulled the blanket off of her child's legs and grabbed her hands, sliding Arisu gently of the bed and onto the cold wooden floor. "We need to leave."

"What? Right now? Why, mother, what's wrong?" The questions fall from the blond child's mouth as she follows her mother out of her room and into her mother's. The said women stopped and turned to face her daughter. Crouching down to the child's height, Arisu's mother spoke to her.

"We do not have much time, Arisu. I will explain to you quickly, but then you must promise to come and follow me, with no questions or hesitation." Her mother paused and Arisu nodded. "Alright. When your father and I met, it had been over a job from the Slayers Association." Arisu was confused but let her mother continue. "The Slayers Association is a large group of vampire hunters. They kill Level E vampires, or any vampires that prove to be dangerous to humans."

"Level E? What's that? And I thought that vampires were just in legends." Arisu interrupted, to confused not to ask.

"No, vampires are very real. There are different levels of vampires; Level A, Purebloods, are vampires whose blood holds no human 'contamination'. They are also the only vampires that are able to turn humans into vampires. Level B, Aristocrats or Nobles, are vampires whose blood holds a small amount of human blood in their ancestry. Level C, D, and E vampires are vampires who were originally humans, but were bitten by a Pureblood. They are ex-humans. Those of them who are stabilized are known as Level C vampires, and those who are not are known as Level D vampires. Vampires who have gone mad with blood lust are called Level E vampires." Arisu nodded, excepting her mother's explanation.

"Your father was a vampire hunter, before he quit and became a drunk." Arisu's mother continued. "He was sent into town to kill a Level E that was killing humans."

"But, mother. How do you know all this? Were or are you a vampire hunter?"

"No, Arisu. I am not a vampire hunter; I never was. But I was one of the humans the Level E kidnapped." Arisu's mother ignored her gasp and continued, speaking quickly. "I will skip to the point, for I don't know if a vampire has gotten to your father and is coming here now. Your father killed the Level E and saved my life. We started dating a while later and soon we got married and had you. I didn't mind that your father was a drunk, and I kept my knowledge of vampires a secret." The women stood up. "Now quickly, we must hurry and leave."

"Alright, mother." The blonde child reached up and grasped her mother's hand. The pair walked fast through the simple house, and was walking down the hallway the led to the front door. Just as Arisu's mother reached for the door handle, a figure dropped down from the ceiling and landed in front of them. The women pushed her child behind her as she addressed the creature.

"What do you what, vampire?"

The vampire laughed. "So this is Sesu Sakebi's beloved family." Its voice was feminine, and had a strange echo-like sound to it.

"I'll ask you one more time; what do you want?" Arisu's mother asked the vampire as the said creature stood up and looked at the women and child before her. There was fresh blood trailing down her chin.

"My brother died at Sesu Sakebi's hands, so you shall die at mine!" The vampire lunged towards Arisu's mother. The women roughly shoved her daughter away from her and Mrs. Sakebi fell to the floor under the vampire's body.

"Arisu, run away! Leave now!" Her mother shouted at Arisu as she kicked the vampire off of her.

"I can't leave you here, mother!" Arisu yelled back, shaking as she watched the vampire run at her mother as the said women dug something out of her pocket.

"You have to! Run!" Mrs. Sakebi kicked the vampire in her chest, sending it stumbling backwards coughing. The vampire women looked at Arisu, her eyes blood red.

"The child…." The vampire murmured before charging at Arisu. The blonde girl screamed and ran towards the door.

"Don't touch her!" Arisu's mother yelled, kicking the vampire in the back of the head. The red eyes women turned to Mrs. Sakebi, battling her once again. Arisu didn't hesitate to run out the door this time, slamming the door behind her. The blonde child slid down the door, sitting and waiting.

* * *

><p>Inside, Arisu's mother looked at the small black box in her hands. Quickly, she pulled out a wooden stick and struck it against the side of the box. With the match in her hands was lit, Mrs. Sakebi threw the match at the curtains, setting them on fire. A chain reaction soon caused the inside of the house to be covered in flames. The vampire didn't waste any time and ran at the women's still outstretched arm. Arisu's mother gasped as the vampire women sank her fangs into the human women's arm. The flames started to burn at the hem of Mrs. Sakebi's pants, as well as the vampire's.<p>

"I will die if it means the cause of your death." Arisu's mother said, as her vision grew blurry.

"Well that's too bad," The vampire women ripped her fangs out of Mrs. Sakebi's arm, and the human women dropped to the floor. "Seeing as you will burn here while I kill your daughter." The vampire jumped through the window, leaving Arisu's mother burning alive.

* * *

><p>Arisu gasped when the window next to the door shattered as the vampire women burst through it. Flames were licking at the open air.<p>

"W-what did you do to my mother?" The young girl asked, slowly backing away from the vampire lady that stood there smirking.

"I killed her. But don't worry, you'll see her soon enough!" The vampire ran at Arisu, but the blonde child was already running. Arisu ran through the streets of the town, desperately trying to escape the vampire. Suddenly, her face connected with a man's chest, forcing her to stop. Arisu heard the vampire stop behind her, as it made a small, almost inaudible, gasp. A gun was cocked and Arisu felt the man move his arm to point his gun at the vampire.

_Be careful! This woman is a vampire! _Arisu tried to say, but was surprised when she found she couldn't speak.

The man didn't even pause as he shot the vampire. The creature turned to dust.

"I am Toga Yagari. Who are you, child?" Toga asked. Arisu opened her mouth but touched her throat to say she couldn't speak. He understood. "I see. No matter, come with me." Arisu didn't question the man and followed him. After all, he did just save her life.


	2. R e u n i t e d

**R e u n i t e d**

_**Flashback**_

_Toga Yagari led Arisu Sakebi into a forest._

_"Zero," Yagari addressed a young boy that had come into view while he lit up a cigarette. "I found this girl in town. A Level E was after her." The man blew some smoke out of his mouth, and then looked down at Arisu, who was looking up at him to avoided Zero's look. "Did it kill your entire family?" Yagari ask the blonde child. She merely nodded._

_"What's your name?" Zero asked. He sounded uncertain but if Yagari had brought her with him then Zero guessed she wasn't dangerous. Arisu looked at Zero. She touched her throat with two fingers, and then shook her head._

_"She can't talk." Yagari said, now finished with his cigarette he threw it to the ground and put it out with his boot. Arisu bent down and picked up a stick that was lying on the ground. She walked over beside Zero, then dropped to her knees and wrote in the dirt._

**_ｸｲﾘﾘﾗﾈ ﾓﾝ ﾐﾁﾓｲ ﾆﾄ ﾁｽﾆﾄﾅ ﾄﾁﾉｲｺﾆ_**

**_Hello, my name is Arisu Sakebi._**

_Zero read what Arisu had written before looking up at Yagari._

_"She says her name is Arisu."_

_Yagari nodded. "Arisu, was there a reason that the Level E was after you and your family?" The female child bit her lip before starting to write again._

**_ﾝｲﾄﾈ ｶｸｲｽｲ ﾃﾁﾄﾙ ﾓﾝ ﾓﾗｶｸｲｽ ﾄﾁﾆｼ ｶｸﾁｶ ﾓﾝ ﾊﾁｶｸｲｽ ﾃﾁﾄ ﾁ ﾋﾁﾓｾﾆｽｲ ｸﾅﾐｶｲｽﾈ ﾁﾐｼ ｶｸﾁｶ ｸｲ ﾉﾆﾘﾘｲｼ ｶｸｲ ﾘｲﾋｲﾘ ｲｹﾄ ｺｽﾗｶｸｲｽﾙ ｸｲ ﾃﾁﾄ ﾁﾘﾄﾗ ﾁ ﾘｲﾋｲﾘ ｲﾙ_**

**_Yes, there was. My mother said that my father was a vampire hunter, and that he killed the Level E's brother. He was also a Level E._**

_"Alright." Yagari said while he looked like he was thinking. Arisu poked Zero in his side with the stick._

_"What?" He asked, turning to look down at her. Zero had white hair, pale skin and light purple eyes. Arisu frowned and underlined the 'Hello' at the beginning of her first statement she had written. Zero rolled his eyes but he smiled slightly. "_Hi, _Arisu." The blonde girl smiled._

* * *

><p>A now fifteen year old Arisu Sakebi sat up in her bed and stretched her arms over her head. It had been eight years since the Level E killed her family, and it had been two years since she had left Yagari. She'd stayed with him for almost seven years, from age seven to age thirteen. Arisu sighed. She missed Yagari and Zero; they were like her family, ever since her real one died. Yagari had visited her last night, though. He had arranged for her to go to a place called Cross Academy. Yagari had told her that there was a Day and a Night Class at the school, and that the Headmaster wanted humans and vampires to co-exist peacefully with one another. This was going to be such a pain.<p>

After dragging herself out of bed, the blonde teenager took a quick shower and dressed herself in her usual attire; dark blue skinny jeans inside of knee high black boots, a crimson red short sleeved shirt, a black leather jacket and a red fingerless glove that was worn on her left hand. This appearance normally kept people away from Arisu, which was good. She didn't need to talk, or write, when her look screamed 'kick ass'. Such a shame Cross Academy had a uniform. _Oh well, _Arisu thought as she laced up her boots. _At least I can still wear my glove and, hopefully, add some of my other accessories to keep my 'kick ass' look._

* * *

><p>When Arisu knocked on the Headmaster's office door, she didn't have to wait five seconds before it was flung open and she was pulled into a bone crushing hug. <em>Good thing the door goes <em>in_, or else I'd be hurting a lot._

"Hello and welcome to Cross Academy! I'm Headmaster Cross!" He _runs the school? Oh Lord…._

"Um, Headmaster? Her face is turning blue…." The Headmaster paid no attention to the girl who had spoken, but Arisu looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of her. The girl looked around Arisu's age, is not the same or younger. She seemed short for her supposed age, and had large brown eyes and shoulder length dark brown hair. The girl sighed. "…Daddy? I think you're hugging her too tight." In an instant Arisu was released and could breathe again.

"And this is my wonderful daughter, Yuki!" Headmaster Cross was hugging his daughter now, leaving Arisu laughing silently. Yuki noticed.

"What's wrong?"

Arisu raised her head to look across the room at Yuki. How was she going to explain this…?

"Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell you, Yuki." The Headmaster released the brunette before continuing. "This is our new student, Arisu Sakebi." Yuki nodded, expressing that she had already heard that information. "Her parents were killed by a Level E when she was seven, and she hasn't been able to talk since." He caught Arisu's shocked expression and added, "Yagari told me." The blonde girl nodded slowly.

"So, she's sort of like Zero?" Arisu was shocked at Yuki's question. _It can't be… she can't mean him…. Can she?_

"Yes, I suppose so." The Headmaster smiled.

Arisu didn't have long to think before Yuki grabbed her hand and pulled her out the door. "Come on! I'll show you around!"

* * *

><p>"This is Cross Academy, a famous private school where all the students stay in dorms." Yuki said as her and Arisu walked towards a set of wooden doors. There was a crowd of girls waiting and talking in front of them. "Oh, hang on." Yuki ran towards the front of the girls yelling, "Hey, don't push!"<p>

"What?" was heard from coming from many of the girls.

"Okay, okay, step back!" Yuki called out to them. "It's already curfew for all Day Class students! Return to your own dorm!"

"By you saying that…" One of the girls at the front said. "Aren't you just trying to keep all the Night Class to yourself, Cross?"

"Just because you're the Headmaster's daughter… it's no fair!" Another one said.

Yuki backed up slightly. "That's wrong! It's my job as a prefect to-" Yuki was cut off as a bunch of girl leaned forward yelling, "Aidou-sempai!" Yuki automatically put her hands up in a sundering pose, before pushing the girls back.

"You can't do that!" Yuki said, before turning her head back to look at the wooden doors that were opening. _I… didn't get them away in time again…. _Yuki thought. She looked back to the girls, only to see that they had all gotten into a line on either side of the door. Yuki twitched. "…Here you go…" She muttered, sliding out of the way of the Night Class. Arisu looked at the Night Class. She had to admit, she could understand the female Day Class student's dreamy sighs. All of the Night Class students were beautiful. Or, they would be if they weren't vampires. Arisu was sure they were, besides the fact Yagari had told her. Her skin felt like it was on fire. It was her way of knowing who was a vampire. Judging by the intensity of the burning sensation, she'd say all of them were Level B, Aristocrats or Nobles, but there was a Level A, Pureblood, mixed in there with them.

"Good morning, ladies!" A blonde vampire said; his eyes closed as he smiled. "I could hear you! You're all so energetic and cute today!" Arisu looked over at Yuki. The brown haired prefect deadpanned.

"Idol… ah, Aidou-sempai …." A girl standing to Yuki's left said.

"Hi~!" Aidou called out, waving.

"Hanabusa." An orange haired male said in a low voice.

"It's alright, you're cool, too, Akatsuki." Aidou said back to him, not stopping smiling or waving to his fans.

"Wild-sempai!" A random girl from the crowd shouted. Aidou stopped waving and look in the girl's direction.

"Kain-sempai!"

Aidou pointed at random, winked and said "Bang~!" Arisu sweat dropped. _What do they see in this guy? _The girl he pointed at got hearts in her eyes and fainted.

"Shoot me too!" Girls called out and pretty much ran over Yuki, knocking her to the ground. Aidou was surrounded by girls and was yelling "Bang!"

"Yuki…" A Night Class student with dark brown hair, darker than Yuki's, bent down and held a hand out to her. "Are you alright?"

Yuki snapped out of her memories. "Kaname-sempai!"

Kaname smiled at Yuki, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Thanks for all your hard work."

Yuki scratched her head absently. "It's not really…" She suddenly became aware of the group of glaring Kaname fans behind her. Yuki jumped to her feet. "Of course! It's my duty as a prefect!"

Kaname stood up as well. "Don't be so uptight… it makes me feel a bit lonely."

"No, it's just… you're the one who saved my life, Kaname-sempai." Kaname moved forward towards Yuki, and raised his hand up to ruffle her hair.

"Don't worry about that anymore." His hand moved down to cup her cheek and Yuki blushed lightly. "It was such a long time ago." Suddenly, another hand snatched Kaname's away from Yuki's face.

"Zero!" Yuki said, startled. Arisu froze from her spot in the distance. _Zero? _She swallowed. _It can't be him… it's impossible._

"Class is starting, Kuran-sempai." Zero said, looking like he'd much rather not us the honorific. Zero dropped Kaname's wrist.

"You sure are scary…" Kaname began as he walked away to his group in the Night Class. "…Mr. Prefect." He stopped walking and looked back over his shoulder.

"Kuran-sempai." A girl said, and she and her friend walked over to Kaname. "Uhm… please accept this!" She offered him a rose.

"Thank you." Kaname said kindly. Yuki tightened her grip on her hands.

Meanwhile, Zero looked over to a group of seven or so girls. "All of you!" Zero yelled at them, raising his fist. "Hurry back to your dorms!" The girls ran off. Screaming. "Having to deal with you all running around screaming 'kya kya, kya kya' everyday…." He muttered under his breath. Then Yuki started punching him repeatedly.

"You were late! Don't talk like you're all 'high-and-mighty'! It's our duty as prefects, so have more respect!" Zero started shoving Yuki.

"I could say that right back at you!" He stopped shoving her. "You're too easy to figure out." Zero turned half way around, so his side was facing Yuki. "Although it has nothing to do with your love towards him… you understand, right?"

"Shut up!" Yuki said, but she looked away. "I know already!" When Yuki looked away, she happened to look in Arisu's direction. "Oh! Zero, I was showing the new Day Class student around before all of this happened." Yuki ran over to the blonde teenage girl and grabbed her hand once again, this time pulling her over to Zero. "Arisu, meet Zero. Zero, meet Arisu." Yuki said smiling. Arisu wouldn't look up and meet Zero's eyes. _What if it is him? What if it is the same Zero that I met through Yagari? But… Yagari would have told me, right? He would have had to; he couldn't just send me to Cross Academy without telling me that one of his other students was attending it! _Arisu's froze when Zero addressed her.

"Arisu? Arisu Sakebi?" The blonde girl's blood ran cold.

_It is him…._


End file.
